Traditionally, automobiles are driven by an internal combustion engine that produces torque. A torque request is generated based on driver input, such as an accelerator pedal or a cruise control system, and a vehicle speed. The torque request is communicated by a torque control path to regulate the engine output torque.
In some vehicles, the torque control path is supplemented by a torque control security path due to vulnerability in processor-based control systems and the potential for various electronic failures. However, the torque security control path could fail to detect malfunctions in the torque control path due to the common failure modes in the algorithm formulation, algorithm calculations, and/or arithmetic logic unit (ALU) usage.